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Brake Pads

Updated: October 6, 2003

Photograph: Closeup of a typical disc brake system.

Publications

  • Equipment Performance Report: 2000 Evaluation of Replacement Brake Pads for Police Patrol Vehicles
    This report contains the complete results of a comprehensive evaluation of replacement brake pads for police patrol vehicles. Due to the many charts and graphs, this publication is only available in Adobe Acrobat format.
    Adobe Acrobat File

  • 2000 Evaluation of Replacement Brake Pads for Police Patrol Vehicles
    This NLECTC bulletin contains a synopsis of the results of a comprehensive evaluation of replacement brake pads for police patrol vehicles.
    Adobe Acrobat File
    ASCII Text File

Police patrol vehicles, by the very nature of their use, are subjected to much more severe operating conditions than the average passenger car. During the course of a vehicle pursuit or while responding to an emergency call, police vehicles are frequently operated at high speeds. While operating at these high speeds, the need may arise to stop quickly, based on road and traffic conditions. The ability to stop the police vehicle in a consistent and safe manner is a vital need to ensure the safety of the officer operating the vehicle and the general public as well.

One of the most important components that affect vehicle stopping performance are the brake pads. Most commercially available brake pads are manufactured with normal, everyday driving characteristics in mind. As such, they tend to sacrifice higher end performance capabilities to provide longer life to the components of the vehicle's braking system under normal operating conditions. While these brake pads are perfectly acceptable for the average motorist, these pads can potentially have dangerous consequences when installed on a police vehicle and subjected to the severe operating conditions that is routinely experienced by a police vehicle.

In 1995, in response to a request from the Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Advisory Council (LECTAC) and based upon the success of the first evaluation of patrol vehicle tires, NLECTC (then known as the Technology Assessment Program Information Center) developed a comparative evaluation testing protocol to evaluate the performance characteristics of the various replacement brake pads commercially available to law enforcement agencies. This protocol was developed with the assistance of the brake pad manufacturers and experts in police vehicle evaluation and testing. The first evaluation program was conducted in 1997. As with the prior evaluation of patrol vehicle tires, distinct performance strengths and weaknesses were identified for each brand of brake pad. Brake pads that provided the shortest stopping distances were found to frequently show the greatest amount of rotor wear as well. This is significant because rotors are an expensive item to replace in comparison to brake pads and can significantly increase vehicle maintenance costs.

This information, which was previously unavailable, is critical to police agencies in their selection process. Based upon this information, agencies may choose to sacrifice minor variations in stopping performance to select a brake pad that extends rotor life, thereby reducing overall maintenance costs. Conversely, if a brake pad is found to exhibit unacceptably stopping performance, it can be eliminated from consideration.

NLECTC performed the second evaluation of replacement brake pads for police vehicles during June 2000. A total of 24 brands (13 on a 2000 Ford Police Interceptor, 11 on a 2000 Chevrolet Impala) were tested. The NLECTC bulletin and Equipment Performance Report (EPR) detailing the results of this testing are currently available.

This testing program is another critical component of NLECTC's voluntary equipment testing and evaluation program, which helps to ensure the safety of the braking components installed on police vehicles. Brake pad manufacturers interested in particpating in the next evaluation should contact Lance Miller at the telephone number or e-mail listed below.

Contact:

NLECTC
Lance Miller, Testing Manager
Tel: (800) 248-2742
lmiller@nlectc.org